I became interested in Venus figures, particularly the Paleolithic figurines, such as the Willendorf and Lespugue, because of their simplicity and the mystery that surrounds them. They seem to be composed, essentially, of spheres. So I began work on a Venus figure based on a sphere. Working with a figure in my studio, I imagined its belly enlarged and rounded into a five-foot diameter ball.

Wanting to express more of what inspired me, and adopting a dream-like logic, I set about to reveal what was inside by opening up the form. I tried a number of ways to make holes , and different ideas of what would be inside, but these experiments did not get me any closer to the emotions and ideas I was looking for. Then it came to me-the form to express the feelings and ideas that came from contemplating this child growing inside, must be the perfect geometry of a sphere.

So I visualized the space inside the mother figure as a sphere and expanded this space until it intersected the deep concave curves of the mother figure and created openings. This is how all the openings were made. The unfilled sphere remains inside as an idealized space.